Rotam China launching its novel copper formulation - DELITE^® SC

Rotam China launched its novel copper formulation - DELITE^® SC in January 2022. The inorganic copper agents have a long history, with the discovery of Bordeaux liquid in 1882, exactly 130 years back. 

It is a green pesticide that can be used in organic agriculture and is also for multiple action sites, free of resistance and flexible in applications, such as spraying, irrigation, mixing and dusting. In addition, it is effective in the prevention of fungi, bacteria and passivation of viruses.

The global market volume of inorganic copper agents has been growing from US$165 million in 2003 to $590 million in 2019. In the United States, inorganic copper agents are the first choice for the prevention of most bacterial diseases (Plant Disease, 1998, 82(9):983-986). Copper agents are the world’s No.1 grape fungicide, followed by sulfur, phosethyl-al, mancozeb and captan. France is the No.1 country applying copper agents to grapes. 

The wholesale sale of inorganic copper agents in China grew from $200 million in 2013 to $229 million in 2019. In citrus and other cash crop-growing regions, almost all retail stores sell five to eight kinds of inorganic copper agents.

With the continuous improvement in the Chinese farming industry, copper agent applications are expected to grow broadly. However, as the application modes and new scenarios are changing, users would demand reliable copper agents, good mixability, aerial application capacity and drip irrigation. 

DELITE^® has the following features and advantages:

• Advanced formulation: There are 384 inorganic copper formulation registrations and 15 copper calcium sulphate registrations in China. DELITE^® is the first and the only registration of calcium copper sulfate SC.

  
  

• Top-level suspension process at density 1.4, is still misty and dispersible when immersed in water, which allows for easier mixability. 

  
  

• Lower surface tension. With adjuvants imported from Germany, DELITE^® has a lower surface tension than other copper suspension agents, which allows for more accessible wetting coverage of leaves with tighter protection.

• A real nanoscale copper agent with a minimum particle size of 170 nanometers, is far smaller than fungus (2-10 microns) and bacterium (0.5-1.5 microns x 1.5-5 microns), which allows for a better protection effect. At the same time, due to the finer particle size, it is fit for aerial application and drip irrigation.

  
  

• It contains 7% liquid calcium at nanoscale particle size, which allows for better absorption by crops. In addition, it has a certain effect of alleviation of fruit cracking, an increase of yield and improvement of quality.